They smell what you cannot

St. Clair Shores K-9 officer Axe gave his life to try to save lives

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) – K-9 officers are trained to confront and apprehend, track or do narcotic and bomb searches.

K-9 Axe was deployed to apprehend and was shot and killed in the line of duty last night in St. Clair Shores.

“My K-9 was shot, I’m running him to John R. and 12 Mile,” was the radio call last night by Officer Tom Price.

While police are not giving a lot of details, they say a man armed with a long gun ran off; Axe was sent to chase him down and was shot.

“It tells me the police officers either felt that their lives were in danger. Or the people in the area if there was a crowd their lives were in danger,” says Rick Napolitano who has trained dogs for more than 30 years for police and people.

“Top Dog K-9” Rick also says there’s a special bond between Axe and his handler, Officer Price, “The dog knows what he wants, and the officer knows what the dog needs to get the job done.”

He says Axe was sent to save lives, “before they want to start shooting in that direction, they want to send the dog in to apprehend the suspect.”

Rick had with him Mavrix who is ten-months-old and almost 90 pounds. His demeanor is fit to be a future police dog.

Axe was 4-years-old with two years on the job. He is with his handler 24-7.

“They’re every bit of an police officer like a human sitting next to him in the car. They work together every day. They live together. They’re best friends. He’ll die for him, which he did,” says Top Dog K-9 Rick.